
The situation parallels the experience of God's people just before Jesus
returns. God's intention to free them from a sinful world and their determi-
nation to be faithful to Him will result in harsh measures being taken against
them. Like Pharaoh, the world will boast, "I know not the Lord, neither will
I let Israel go" (Ex. 5:2). To the saints, their loyalty to God will appear to
result in making a bad situation worse. But once again, God will demon-
strate His power in a series of plagues that will culminate in the deliverance
of His people. In chapter 16 of Revelation, John draws on the Exodus story
to describe the final terrors that will be hurled at an unbelieving world. Of
the seven final plagues mentioned in that chapter, five have definite counter-
parts among the plagues that befell Egypt.
Today's lesson looks at the first nine of the ten plagues poured out on the
Egyptians. The tenth will be the subject of next week's lesson.
GENERAL NOTES ON THE PLAGUES:
Before we take up each
plague, notice these points:
1.
The plagues were given not only to demonstrate God's power and
judgment, but also to reveal His mercy.
Although the Egyptians had
"long rejected the knowledge of God, the Lord still gave them opportunity
for repentance. . . . The long-suffering One, slow to anger, and full of com-
passion, gave each judgment time to do its work; the Egyptians, cursed
through the very objects they had worshiped, had evidence of the power of
Jehovah, and all who would, might submit to God and escape His
judgments.
"—Patriarchs and Prophets,
p. 333.
2.
Who hardened Pharaoh's heart?
Although verses such as Exodus
8:15, 32 and 9:34 say that Pharaoh hardened his heart against the evidence
of God's power, other texts speak of
God
hardening the king's heart so that
he would not agree to let Israel go. (See Ex. 4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:20.) This has
perplexed many Bible students because it implies that Pharaoh was a pawn
in God's hand—being manipulated by God to resist Him and then being
punished for doing so.
First, we must keep in mind that many in Old Testament times viewed
God as in ultimate control of all things. Therefore, nothing happened apart
from His knowledge and for which He was not, in a sense, responsible. For
this reason, the Old Testament sometimes speaks of God as actively doing
that which He permits others to do. (See 2 Sam. 24:1; 1 Citron. 21:1; Isa.
45:7.)
Second, it was God's manifestation of His power in the plagues that led to
Pharaoh's stubborn resistance. As the same sunshine can melt wax and
harden clay, so the judgments of God and the influence of His Spirit produce
different effects on different hearts.
3.
The nine plagues studied in this lesson can be arranged according
to the following chart.
The sets of plagues grew progressively worse. The
first three plagues, although loathsome, did not actually threaten life. The
second set inflicted bodily harm and affected property. The third set did not
originate from agencies within Egypt, but from the general system of uni-
versal nature as if the elements themselves were warring against the Egyp-
tians. Within each set, the individual plagues increased in seriousness.
Study the chart carefully in order to discover other relationships.
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